It seems as though the incredibly smart, wonderfully tasteful and gently subtle geniuses from the South Africa Sucks blog (now known as zahell.something.or.another) have discovered publicity.
That means that the rest of us have to deal with their racist slurs, genius non-innuendos and flat our bigoted racism while we read quality content. I wont stand for it. I will, and am, doing all that I can to shut down every new domain/blog/website that these people may use. I have been reporting this group of people for a long time and my efforts have occasionally worked. This is why the “website” has had to move numerous times and rename itself. All the while maintaining the same theme, contributors and wonderful approach to plagiarism (they rip off content from every and any source they can and claim it as their own).
But I desperately digress to a topic that riles me and inflames my tongue and fingers as I type.
The point of this post is to tell you about Blogger.com’s interesting approach to me reporting zahell as defamatory and libellous content as well as offensive and hate speech.
After I clicked the “Flag This” button in the header bar of blogger blogs I received this email from the team at Google.
Hi there,
Thank you for your message. Please note that Blogger is a provider of
content creation tools, not a mediator of that content. We allow our users
to create blogs, but we don’t make any claims about the content of these
pages. We strongly believe in freedom of expression, even if a blog
contains unappealing or distasteful content or presents unpopular
viewpoints. We realize this may be frustrating and we regret any
inconvenience this may cause you. Given these facts, and pursuant with
section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, Blogger does not remove
allegedly defamatory, libelous, or slanderous material from Blogger.com or
BlogSpot.com. In cases where contact information for the author is listed
on the page, we recommend you working directly with this person to have
the content in question removed or changed.In cases where the author is anonymous, please note that in accordance
with US state and federal law, it is Blogger’s policy to only provide a
user’s contact information pursuant to a valid third party subpoena or
other appropriate legal process.Sincerely,
The Blogger Team
What a load of rubbish is that? OK wait, don’t answer that because I know the story. They have to cover themselves, they can’t moderate each and every blog, they can’t be held responsible for the content on their platform, they don’t publish these blogs they simply host the software that the people use to publish their own content. Yet all of these are just too simple for me.
Google is a multi-billion dollar corporation and there is no excuse for a message like the above. If you don’t want to take charge of your platform don’t give me the option to report questionable content if you don’t actually intend on acting on my complaint. Rather let me find other means. I am sorely disappointed in their approach and will be looking for other ways to permanently remove the zahell drivel.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
August 20th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Yea i reported it to, i got no email. But i agree with your point, its the classic disclaimer mentality which is pretty common, shit – you get one at the start of a DVD these days, it allows business to wash its hands of consumers without offending either side of the argument….can anyone say cop out ?
Try a slightly more confrontation approach…new headline
Google aka Blogger endorses racism
August 20th, 2008 at 9:47 am
By complaining so vocally in the public domain you become a valuable, albeit unwitting, tool of the site to spread its gospel. It is the very benefit this site seeks, and the opposite of what you want.
I shudder by the thought that Google would swing the ax of censorshop and mind control, and become the arbitor of what is allowed and what not to write in a private blogging site.
The response by Google was predictable and correct to the letter. It was not an endorsement of the site in contention and reminded you of the rules under which Google and similar services operate.
When I encounter a site with racist and inflammatory content, I normally stop reading and have a cup of tea. With the expectation that 30pc of the population are morons, I expect the same to be true within the blogging community. With such high frequency I cannot get excited enough to seek legal recourse against someone’s often anonymously expressed opinion, no matter how vile it might be.
Your reaction, however, is hysterical and contrary to what you try to achieve: that no-one else should read about such despicable racism.
elgars last blog post..Red Moon Eclipse
August 20th, 2008 at 9:59 am
So elgar – for you it’s a case of “ignore it and it will go away”… unfortunately that is pacifist and defeatist and not my style.
I have not linked to the blog, I have not furthered their content or duplicated it. I have told people to visit the site to take action against it and report it. One can only do that by visiting the site.
Imagine if the world had just tried to ignore hitler, apartheid, and genocide in the hope that it would just go away! What a sad state we’d be in right now.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hey Nic, totally agree. Ain’t that the truth. Blogger.com’s preamble on terms & conditions states that things like porno, hate speech, won’t be tolerated, etc … but when it comes down to it – anything goes??!!
At least there are more & more positive sites abounding – like yours, SA Good News, Awesome SA, etc, etc – but just still don’t understand how these racist morons think. And there seems to be a disturbingly large number of them on the net in general (ie other countries too). Wow. Mebbe someone should give them a homeland … and they can fester in peace – as long as they keep to themselves.
Take care out there & keep up the good work!!
August 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
That blog is terrible and not even worth mentioning. But to sit idle and ignorant and hoping for them to just go away, is not the answer. I support all efforts to suspend that place, but like gmk i was never honoured with any reply. I guess if enough people complain, the e-mail content will change?
Emils last blog post..Appreciating Health
August 25th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Reading those terms and conditions, and comparing them to Blogger’s actions, is consistent and not spineless. It would be spineless if Blogger bent their stance.
But they haven’t.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
It is a difficult question… I do agree with you that the site in all its incarnations is offensive and promotes racial hatred and a mindset that I hoped no longer existed in this country.
But on the other hand… let’s play devil’s advocate: unless laws are actually being broken (and remember, with Google/Blogger being a US company, they are going to measure freedom of speech my US laws, not ours), it’s a tough call whether you really want Google/Blogger to act as final judge and arbiter on what gets removed and what does not. For example, there was recently a fundemantalist blogger in the US who published some hugely defamatory stuff about Tertia (So Close) because she had religious objections to the IVF that Tertia had undergone. What if she had complained to Blogger that Tertia’s content was religiously terribly offensive and had to go? Can you see where I am heading? No doubt she feels as strongly about the issue as you do about the position that SA Sucks expounds, but that does not mean that Tertia’s blog should be censored or removed…
I think most sane people will spend about 30 seconds on their site before realising what the agenda is and moving off for good – rather like when people first started sending me the Crimpexpo link. And sadly, even killing the site won’t kill the attitude, and I’m afraid I can’t begin to suggest how to fix that attitude…
Cooksisters last blog post..Nectarine and coriander leaf salsa with seared tuna steaks
August 30th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Nic I believe in FREEDOM OF SPEECH. I disagree with those wankers completely and utterly, just as I disagree with Catto when he hates whites and I disagree with quelane when he is being an ass, But would I want to see them banned. NO. Banning these arseholes would get them more publicity, They then become martyrs and we know that martyrs always win.
In fact communist policy is to create martyrs for the cause. All these dunderhedas need is another reason to cry about how they are being sidelined. Give them a platform, ignore them and you will see how small an issue they really are.
They are sidelined because they chose to be. They will always be sidelined because they have the intelligence of a tick on my dogs arse.
Guy McLarens last blog post..So you don’t have a website – Shock horror, you don’t need one.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
That blog gets a LOT of attention because of unfair labour practices like affirmative action against whites. 50% of white males in South Africa are “self employed”. I get the impression you are smug affirmative action – probably NGO – beneficiaries, and wish whites would just quietly go away and die somewhere.
Skilled whites, as well as skilled blacks, Indians and coloureds are emigrating every day, yet you maintain that SA Rocks?
Can’t get Google to ban ZAHell on your say so? Shame. The world is a lot bigger than your narrow perceptions of it.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
IMD – is that your real name? Or are you ashamed to be open about your identity? No need to answer that, i know it already.
So basically you are saying that white South Africans cannot get jobs in SA anymore? Is that it? Strange. I am a white South African. I have a job, I’ve had a few. What exactly is the issue here? Couldn’t you get a job or the lovely people over at that pathetically racist blog?
I am not smug, nor an NGO and it would be awfully tough for me to wish for whites to go away considering I am a white male.
Skilled people might be leaving but that is not a new or local phenomenon. I’m not denying it’s happening. But I can assure that there are skilled, experienced and happy foreigners coming in to the country to take jobs from those people who are fleeing for their lives. Don’t be ignorant, this is life and life happens.
I also find it ironic that you talk of a “Big world” but read a blog like zahell… can you see the irony? I also recognise that you have obviously experienced something that has pissed you off. I get that, that’s cool, but don’t tell me that ALL WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS are struggling to get work. I ensure you that more Black South Africans are struggling than whites.
My view is not narrow, it’s just positive. Have you read this blog more than once? I am realistically positive about my world view, not ignorantly racist like that other blog.
September 8th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
“But I can assure that there are skilled, experienced and happy foreigners coming in to the country to take jobs from those people who are fleeing for their lives.”
At 3 or 4 times the usual going rate, because of the crime situation! I’m not unemployed, nor am I male. I am simply horrified at how many skilled people I come across on a daily basis who are leaving the country because of the crime situation. If you lose your skilled people, then your poor, unskilled people have no choice of bettering their own lives. Skills are the leverage to a successful economy and country.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Blacks in South Africa are commiting genocide against white people. Thats the truth.
September 28th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Uhu – thanks for your useless comment theadore, hope you come back and keep the hits flowing on SA Rocks.
October 13th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
What a fuss about the springbok rugby emblem being replaced with a protea. The New Zealand rugby team call themselves Kiwis – that’s a bird, mate, not a fruit – and the Australians call themselves wallabies, which is not really sexy. The English sport a rose on their rugby jerseys, and they didn’t burn down Buckingham palace about it.
SA bullshit detectors last blog post..Where is Jacob Zuma when we need him here?
October 29th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Please be warned not to post comments on South Africa Sucks. Your IP will be traced and, if you are not very careful, your computer hacked into.
Your private e-mails will be copied and altered and sent to all and sundry to humiliate you. It happened to me, and a lot of other people.
The police should be involved in investigating the people behind this blog, not Google.
What can Google do about it from America?
October 30th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Be careful of what comments you post on blogs, bloggers.
The name for my internet connection was changed to KILL by none other than that guy called Uhuru Guru from SAS.
He has hijacked my computer, totally.
And that’s not because I don’t have internet security. I have three programs for this.
He is a blackmailer who will stoop to the lowest of the lowest.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:42 am
i would point out that the constitution of South Africa nominally permits freedom of speech unless you are propagating race hate or encouraging violence against others. SAS does, occasionally, get a bit near the bone, I must admit, but on the other hand it reports a hell of a lot of crimes etc that appear to go unreported in the mainstream media. Any ideas Why
It is fine to be hopeful & full of joy, until you are shot, hijacked or raped – then it all goes a bit sour!
Encouraging whites to leave RSA is a legitimate activity, but please bear in mind that no one will leave a country just because someone else tells them to do so. There MUST be strong underlying reasons. Where I work at least 5 technical personnel have upped and left for Oz in the last 2 months – why – better prospects, no crime of the SA ilk, better schooling.
Nick, wake up – there is a lot badly wrong with South Africa, otherwise people would be IMMIGRATING, not EMIGRATING. Most workers coming here are expat Australians, Canadians etc, lured by fat expat allowances for a short term contract or secondment. SA is haemorraging technical people – engineers, chemists, process engineers, project managers, etc. These guys are intelligent enough to see the future, and make enough money to be able to move! Long term they will NEVER be replaced and will NEVER return. Zimbabwe South here we come!
November 13th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS IDIOT
Nic Haralambous
http://sarocks.co.za/2008/08/19/bloggercoms-spineless-approach-to-moderation/
What do you think of this IDIOT?
Meet Nic Haralambous the IDIOT who has been trying to close down SAS
This is what he says about SAS.
“the rest of us have to deal with their racist slurs, genius non-innuendos and flat our bigoted racism while we read quality content. I wont stand for it. I will, and am, doing all that I can to shut down every new domain/blog/website that these people may use. I have been reporting this group of people for a long time and my efforts have occasionally worked. This is why the “website” has had to move numerous times and rename itself”.
Is he a Talibaan?
A skinny RUNT.
I think he should be taught to mind his own business.
South Africa Sucks is ALIVE AND WELL
November 13th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Haralambous. Got news for you. You aint white. You are a Turk
November 13th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Emilio – very impressed you spelled my name correctly. Good on you man.
You think that is an insult? hehehehe, I probably do have Turkish blood in my blood line, I am well aware of that, but such is life. I am more South African than Greek Cypriot or Turk.
Thanks for the visits and comments, appreciate the extra page views, even from you.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Cooksister Says:
August 29th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
It is a difficult question… I do agree with you that the site in all its incarnations is offensive and promotes racial hatred and a mindset that I hoped no longer existed in this country.
Why are you afraid of a notion you oppose, being promoted? Are you afraid the reader might agree with the content of their blog once they see the other side of the arguement?
Spitting fire and brimstone isn´t the way to counter their point of view. Constructive commentary, explaining why they are wrong, and thus promoting your own view point, is what civilized people are supposed to do.
Simply by insulting them and claiming they are stupid mindless imbeciles, brings into question your own intelligence.
Nic, by trying to close down their site, you make yourself look like a kid who wants the other kid´s toy smashed, because he thinks it´s better than his.
If you want people to take you seriously, then please behave in a more mature and adult fashion.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Hey TinyTman – thanks for the visits/hits/pageviews/comment. Appreciate your support.
You can twist this any which way you like tinytman, but let’s be honest, all of the SAS guys bombarding this site with even more anger, hatred and hate speech trying provoke me proves that I am most certainly not the one who is being childish.
Furthermore, if you were to simply stop writing racist content insighting violence then you probably wouldn’t have to keep moving your domain around every few seconds. I am clearly not the only one who finds the content of SAS objectionable. If you don’t like the ridicule you receive then don’t play in the field that you are playing in.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Nic, why do you automatically assume I´m from SAS? I´m just an observer who likes to examine both points of view.
I can understand where you are coming from, but I also feel those guys have a valid point. I don´t think they are any more racist than the next guy, they just want the plight of their people brought into the spotlight, much like Mr Mandela wanted the plight of the blacks to be recognised.
They have a legitimate complaint. By insulting them and heaping abuse on them won´t solve the problem. It will only make it worse.
BTW, it´s Tinytim man. You really must learn to use logic and not insults to back up your points of view.
Good luck with your blog Nic. Always fight for what you believe in. Just remember, if you don´t want to lose credibility, use facts and clear thinking to influence your arguement, not insults.
Peace man.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
TinyTim (much better) – very fair response. And point taken. But there are ways for SAS dudes to bring their point across without generalising, stereotyping and branding one race better/worse than other in a racist and derogatory way. Surely you can see that too? Surely what you are saying works in favour of both parties involved, not just thrown at me?
November 14th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Nic — you need to be particularly clear as to why you feel that only your opinion – and not that of other people, should be allowed on the internet. Even if an opinion is extreme, i am sure that you will recognize that sometimes these opinions are neccesary to stimulate debate. you do need to give credit to the fact that at least some of what is on zahell is true.
in my opinion, you merely feel unable to deal with the issues presented on zahell, and so seek to have it sensored…typical of your types. i hope you enjoy being a victim of crime.
November 15th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Nic you pric you sound so much like an ANC comrade.Protecting your communist buddies.This is an insult.
November 15th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Doos. enough said. and it’s meant to be an insult to you. duh.
November 15th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Nic – you are one clearly deluded person. You fail to see that what they might have to say is quite close to the truth but because of your prejudices against “racists”, you will never see it. This blog is far more of a scam than the SAS bloggers, because you promote LIES, DISTORTIONS OF THE TRUTH and HYPOCRISY. I am sick and tired of “SA is great” blogs because all of them hide the truth and run by people who their head firmly in the sand.
November 16th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Joe – so you are saying that the source of the message is irrelevant? Are you serious? So I should take life/living advise from people who despise an entire sect of human beings because they are dark-skinned?
That is a flippin scam. If the SAS blog and it’s authors kept the hate speech out, if they minimised their use of racist language, racist photography, one sided reporting in regard to black on white violence than maybe I’d think about reading that thing they call a blog.
But I have yet to a story of a white person killing a white person, a white person killing a person of colour or any white-centric hate speech on that blog. It’s racist one-sided rubbish. Can you not see that the source of their message is tainted.
Have you read the ABOUT US section of this blog? Quote: “SA Rocks is not a website dedicated to blindly praising South Africa. I understand that every country has flaws and I do not deny the flaws of South Africa. I do feel that there are enough people who berate our country and it’s time for people to start acting and thinking positively about South Africa.”
So there you have it. I am not one-sided, ignorant, hypocratic or anything of the sort. I will not condone any sort of racism at all. I don’t care how justified your feel their cause might be it is wrong and hate begets hate. End of story.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:48 am
If you dont like it dont read it. Do you flag all the white hate speech to?
November 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Nick, wake up – there is a lot badly wrong with South Africa, otherwise people would be IMMIGRATING, not EMIGRATIN
————-
They are you muppet. 20 000 brits immigrate here every year. More than the other way around. And saffers are coming back in the droves.
Some migration is not a big deal in todays global village.
It must be the most overused statement by the white moaners : Wake up. They can’t stand that not everyone is suffering crippling guilt from apartheid that they’ve convinced themselves black people are out to get them. Wake up to what ? To share in your dellusional fit of unsubstantuated neurosis ? No thanks.
Crime in South Africa is decreasing and the economy has done better than ever, yet you people chose this time to spit the dummy ? No man , shut up. If you were happy in South Africa in 1994 then you have much more reason that ever to be happy here now. In no way has the country gotten worse since then.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
LOL Nic – that little “About Us” means absolutely nothing. Where is one “negative” article that you have posted on this blog i.e. harshly criticising this government’s leadership etc.? I can’t find one, please help me out.
And how is it “rubbish” when all the articles are linked to mainstream sources like IOL and News24?